Engineering Commons^™

Microcomputer Controlled Instrumentation System For Studies Of Metabolic Changes In Rats, Murat Dertlioglu

Theses

The system measures the respiratory exchange in rats in a controlled experiment. An interface unit provides data, received from several measurement instruments such as gas analyzers, an electronic flowmeters, electronic thermometer and an electronic hygrometer, to the computer. The data is gathered from different chambers in a multiplexed mode.

The computer samples the chambers sequentially and prints out the results and stores them on the disk. The sampling duration of each chamber and the number of the rats to be tested can be programmed. The system can perform experiments with twelve animals, in the following arrangments, either one group of …

Computer Based Instrumentation System For Measurement Of Cardiac Output In Small Animals, Prasad L. Gavaskar

Theses

The task of the instrumentation system is to measure cardiac output in animals like rats, dogs, etc. A thermal-dilution method is used for this purpose. The temperature change due to injection of saline is picked up by thermo-couple microprobes implanted in the blood-vessel. The signal after conditioning is fed to a data acquisition system controlled by a computer.

With the help of a computer it is thus possible to monitor and control an experiment on several animals. The computer can sample the chambers sequentially. The sampling cycle duration and frequency are programmable. The data is collected and processed to determine …

Automated Instrumentation System To Monitor Behavioral Experiments, Dilip S. Gokhale

Theses

An instrumentation system has been designed to monitor behavioral experiments on monkeys. This instrumentation system is capable of performing these experiments in an automated manner without any human intervention. It is capable of monitoring these experiments concurrently in six boxes. It exhibits several features that make it more versatile than previous instrumentation systems. It is also capable of storing the data generated on to a floppy disk and later transmitting it to the mainframe.

Another feature that makes it more versatile is the flexibility of the system. Presently it is configured to run experiments with variable interval schedules. However with …

Computer Simulation For Studying The Performance Of Plasticating Extruders, K. S. Govindaraju

Theses

A Computer program for simulation of a single screw plasticating extruder is presented. The computer program simulates the performance of different size extruders with various screw geometries for plasticating and pumping different thermoplastic resins. The simulation yields valuable information on the performance of an extruder for a variety of operating conditions. The simulation program provides a means of separating the effect of one variable at a time on the overall performance of the extruders.

Tourist Development And Environmental Impact Of Future Airport Construction In Athens, Greece, Vasilios Michael Halkias

Theses

The present thesis is an overall study of the suitablility of the eastern region of the Attica Peninsula in Greece, for a Tourist Development. The future construction of the new International Airport of Athens within the region is a significant factor that has been taken into account for the study.

It also examines and projects the Environmental Impacts due to the Airport construction.

The description of the studied area is presented by maps and refers to the Environmental Inventory. This Inventory examines the Water Resources of the region, Topography, Land Uses, Transportation System, Air and Noise Quality, Archaeological Sites, Utilities, …

Intelligent Computer Decision Systems, Robert J. Heath

Theses

This paper demonstrates that the concepts developed through Artificial Intelligence research are applicable to computerized information systems; and that a system of expert problem solvers and natural language interfaces exhibiting characteristics of "intelligent behavior" offer several advantages over present-day, conventional database management designs. Development of the conclusion was accomplished after an analysis and assimilation of the current literature in the field of Artificial Intelligence and participation in university symposia concerning its application to the business environment. It is concluded that incorporating the notions of learning and creativity, common sense(heuristics), and self-awareness, intelligent computer decision systems will provide managers with : …

Finite Element Analysis Of The Behavior Of Foundations Over Cavities In Soluble Rocks, Borhan Huang

Theses

Soluble rocks contain sinkhole that affect the strength of the rocks. In designing foundations in and on these formation, the effects of cavities have to be taken into account. In this study, an axisymmetric formulation has been developed to study the behavior of circular footings over spherical cavities. Parametric studies have been conducted varying the sizes and locations of openings. An approximate procedure has been employed to generate the stiffness matrix of the system. Error analysis and convergence study of the results have been performed.

Modification Of A Heat Transfer Program (Stan5) To Account For Surface Roughness And Its Application To Aerodynamic Icing, Parthasarathy R. Iyengar

Theses

In order to be able to predict the local ice accretion rate or the icing profile on an airfoil, it is necessary that a suitable heat transfer coefficient model be availabIe. A computer program has been developed which is capable of predicting the local heat transfer coefficient for a typical two dimensional icing surface. Because of the charecteristics of an icing surface, an existing computer program (STAN5) has been modified to include the effects of the following surface roughness surface curvature and boundary layer transition.

The computer program for the heat transfer coefficient has then been used with an existing …

Decision Rules Applied To Spread Spectrum Signal Detection, Richard Jae Kim

Theses

Decision rules for detection of spread spectrum signals were investigated. For each decision rule, error and erasure probabilities were analyzed. The obtained data was used to plot PE vs Pe for constant signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). With the use of the probability of a word error curves the optimum threshold setting was found for a given SNR.

FSK (orthogonal signalling) and PSK (antipodal signalling) were considered for modulating the chips. When the PE vs Pe plots for FSK and PSK were compared, PSK performed better than FSK by a ratio of 6 dB.

Finally, analog and digital correlation of the received …

Coupled Flexural And Torsional Vibrations Of Beams, Sang Hwan Kim

Theses

This thesis deals with the vibration of a beam whose flexural and centroidal axis are not coincident. The elementary bending- twisting theory is employed to derive the equations of motion, in which the effects of rotary inertia are added to the bending displacements and the effects of warping are added to the twist. Bending translation is restricted to one direction so that one bending equation is used instead of two. The equations of motion are solved by using the boundary value problem. The exact natural frequencies are found from the frequency equation , which is obtained from the condition that …

The Effects Of Feedback On Operator Performance In A Production Environment, Diane L. Knoll

Theses

The objective of this thesis and it's associated research is to analyze the positive effects of feedback in a production environment. The experimental data was collected at the Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation in New Jersey and a subsidiary company, The J. T. Clark Company, in Illinois.

The experiments involved three types of feedback indirect feedback provided to a large group of packaging operators, direct feedback provided to a small group of temporary packaging operators in a training situation, and direct feedback provided to an entire workforce of operators performing dissimilar, but interrelated tasks.

The results of these experiments were consistent with …

Deposition Of Particles In Cylindrical Chamber Due To The Effect Of Image, Inertia, Viscous And Gravity Forces, Mehul J. Shah

Theses

This study investigated the behaviour of charged particles in cylindrical chambers under the influence of image, inertia, viscous and gravitational forces. The flow was considered to be laminar, steady state and incompressible. The velocity profiles considered were uniform and parabolic with symmetry about the axis of the cylinder.

The governing equations derived were based on Newton's second law of motion. The equations for the case neglecting gravity are linear second order equations and the Runge-Kutta method was used to find a numerical solution. The data hence obtained is fitted to equations using curve fitting method. These equations and graphical techniques …

Management Improvement Study Of The Engineering Function In A Converting Industry Company, James John Slovak

Theses

A study was made to determine if the profitability of a converting company could be improved by expanding its engineering department. Process challenges were examined along with the present engineering function to determine difficulties. A case study of capital budget projects completed in the last three years revealed that potential savings were lost due to late and incomplete projects. The conclusion is that profitability can De increased through process control improvements and more timely completion of capital projects by expanding the present engineering department.

Effects Of Two Chelating Drugs On Trace Element Metabolism In The Rat, Thomas J. Solecki

Theses

Numerous drugs have structures which suggest that they and/or their metabolites are likely to be chelating agents and therefore might affect trace element metabolism. For some drugs, their therapeutic activity or side effects may be due to this chelating potential. Ethambutol, used in the treatment of tuberculosis, is an example. There is also evidence that other drugs, such as alpha-methyldopa, may possess this potential; although its primary therapeutic action occurs via mechanisms other than chelation. The objective of this thesis was to determine the effects of ethambutol and alpha-methyldopa on tissue metal concentrations and balance of four essential trace metals: …

A Systematic Program For The Management Of A Sanitation Function In The Food Industry, John Joseph Sprainitis

Theses

The sanitation of food processing and packaging facilities is a labor intensive activity. As with any labor intensive operation, effective planning and control of the manpower is necessary. The more effective tie management, the more effective and productive the manpower will be.

As the effectiveness of the management improves, the cost effectiveness of the manpower will improve.

In dealing with the manufacturing of foods, there are numerous government regulations, of which sanitation plays a key role. Misunderstanding the impact of these regulations, and either over- or under-reacting to them, can result in unnecessary costs or severe problems.

In order to …

Plate Buckling Under Biaxial Patch Loading, Herli Surjanhata

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the buckling of rectangular plate-shaped elements under biaxial compressive loading with patch loading along one pair of opposite edges. The loading along the other edges is continuous but the discontinuous loading covers different patches along opposite edges. All the applied loads are uniformly distributed. The critical buckling load of this type of plate element is an important factor in the optimal design of many types of thin-walled structures. Frequently the nature of the problem prohibits an exact or even a general form of solution, thus dictating a numerical approach.

The problem has been attacked to …

Implementation Of Dbase Ii In Inventory Management By A Small Firm, Shih-Chieh Wang

Theses

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Characteristics Of Blood Velocity In A Simulated Circulation System, Yung-Gang Wu

Theses

The major objective of this thesis is to find the relationship between the blood velocity and the stenosis of the vessel. Tests were performed with different degrees of stenosis at varied logitudinal positions from the testing probe in the vessel of a Z-80 microprocessor controlled artificial circulation system.

Three methods were used to detect the velocity in the vessel: continuous wave Doppler, Pulse Doppler, and a hot-film device. The first method can get the average velocity, while the latter two have the capability to find a velocity profile, and all are important indicators to the arterial occlusion phenomenon.

An analysis …

Flow In A Channel With An Abrupt Change In Area : Finite Element Method, Ching-Fu Yu

Theses

Steady flow with an incompressible non-viscous fluid in a two-dimensional channel with an abrupt change in the width of its flow passage has been studied with a finite element method and a complex potential method.

The flow problem was solved with the use of an existing finite element program, FLOW2, in terms of the velocity potential and the stream function. The general procedure of solving problem by finite element method and the user's guide of FLOW2 program are presented in this thesis.

A computer program, EXACT, has been written for the exact solution based on the complex potential method to …

Risk Assessment For New Products In Office Automation, Dolores Ann Canale

Theses

As investors survey the industrial growth of technology for the late 1980's one area leading the range for large potential growth is the area of office automation. Though this area has been under heavy speculation by many large firms (such as IBM, AT&T and EXXON) for the pass ten years it still remains an unexplored market for many investors. The objective of this research paper is to study the risks companies. will face developing products for this horizon.

Investors believe that success in this area, as well as, many other areas of engineering rely in large measure on the willingness …

Finite Element Modeling Of A Femoral Stem In A Total Hip Prosthesis, Robert C. Cohen

Theses

A three-dimensional model was produced to study of effects of stress on a femoral stem in a total hip prosthesis. Using the ANSYS General Purpose Finite Element Computer Program, a reproduction of the system was constructed for the loads acting on the hip joint at intervals of a walking cycle. With isotropic properties for cortical bone, cancellous bone, cement, and selected alloys, the model was generated using three-dimensional, isoparametric, eight-node, solid elements (STIF45). The model consists of over 700 nodes and 442 elements. This model can be used to produce computer calculated stress data, if disc storage space allows.

On Analysis Of Small Bore Piping Vibrations, Nitinkumar Shroff

Theses

This thesis investigates the natural frequency and vibration induced stress of small bore power plant piping. Straight piping and piping with concentrated load, such as a valve, located anywhere along the span are studied. Four different boundary conditions of fixed-free, simple-fixed, fixed-fixed and simple-simple are investigated, as any single span piping may be approximated by one of these boundary conditions.

The results otained [sic] for frequency and stress coefficients in the case of straight piping are plotted. Plots of frequency factor and stress ratio for the piping with concentrated load are also presented.

The results obtained for the natural frequencies …

The Detection Of Partial Discharges In Transformer Oil, Gerald J. Fitzpatrick

Theses

The level, meaning the number and the intensity Of partial discharges that occur in transformer oil per time period of applied pulse when a high voltage is applied can be used as a measure of the quality and remaining life of the oil. The level of partial discharges at a given applied voltage can be correlated with the degree of contamination of the oil by impurities such as water and conductive particles and can be used as an indicator of the proximity of the oil to breakdown. There are several approaches to the detection of partial discharges, e.g., acoustic measurements, …

The Dry Removal Process Of Sulphur Dioxide From Flue Gases Using Aluminum Oxide, Ching-Hwang Lu

Theses

Oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide and absorption on aluminum oxide pellet as a mean of removing sulfur dioxide from flue gas was studied in a packed bed reactor at various temperatures, residence times, SO₂ inlet concentrations (ppm level), and particle sizes. Three different experiments were conducted: (i) sulfation with oxygen/ozone, (ii) sulfation with oxygen only in the presence of UV radiation ( 254 nm or 366 nm ), (iii) sulfation with oxygen only. In all the experiments substantial absorption of sulfur dioxide by alumina pellet was observed. Sulfation with oxygen/ozone give the highest absorption of SO_{2 …}

The Manhattan Project Legacy : Low Level Radioactive Waste Health Effects, An Epidemiological Study, Lisa Fetterman Voyce

Theses

An epidemiological survey was performed that included the area surrounding a former Department of Energy thorium processing and disposal facility. This facility processed monazite sands to obtain thorium under Federal Government contracts from 1941-1973.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection radiological surveys had shown elevated radiation levels at the Site and in the vicinity of the plant. The area was divided into sections according to distance from the site and from Sheffield Brook, which is also contaminated. Questionnaires were mailed to 400 families, with 112 responses. These represent 362 people.

Statistical analysis of the accumulated data regarding lifestyle, occupation, reproductive …

Behavior Of Thin-Walled Channel Shaped Reinforced Concrete Columns Under Combined Biaxial Bending And Compression, Subash Yalamarthy

Theses

Next to rectangular, circular and L shapes, Channel section may be the most frequently encountered reinforced concrete columns since they can be used as box wall for elevators. Nevertheless, information about the load deformation behavior is not generally available to structural engineers. Most of the investigations have been emphasized on the ultimate strength of column sections under combined biaxial bending and axial compression and the resulting interaction surface. No attention is paid to load deformation behavior.

Current code provisions do not provide adequate guidelines for assessing the strength and ductility of biaxially-loaded reinforced concrete columns. Therefore, this investigation is aimed …

Behavior Of L-Shaped Reinforced Concrete Columns Under Combined Biaxial Bending And Compression, Amar Shah

Theses

Combined biaxial and axial compression for L-shaped reinforced concrete short columns is a common design Problem. Current code, provisions and the available design aids do not offer an insight into the determination of strength and ductility of biaxially loaded reinforced concrete column. An experimental and analytical investigation of the moment-deformation behavior of biaxially loaded L-shaped short columns were undertaken. Four 1/2 scaled specimens were tested till failure. Moment-curvature and load-deflection curves were developed from the experimental and the analytical results. The analytical results were obtained using a computer program developed by Hsu (1). From the investigation it is deduced that …

Behavior Of Tee-Shaped Reinforced Concrete Columns Subjected To Biaxial Bending And Axial Compression, Antoun Romanos Nader

Theses

The investigation deals with the effect of eccentric loading on the moment-curvature relationship of reinforced concrete tee columns.

The test program consisted of two series of tee-shaped reinforced concrete columns, loaded biaxially at constant angle from the principle axes. Their end conditions were assumed to be pinned-ended.

Loads, at constant rate, were gradually applied until failure. At each loading stage, measurements were made for the strains and deflections at the mid span section.

The experimental and theoretical results of the load- deformation and moment-curvature were compared and found that the analytical approach proposed by Hsu is applicable to irregular sections …

The Effects Of Heavy Metals On The Chick Embryo Development, Yasmin Alibhai

Theses

The following is a research report on the effects of heavy metals on the avian embryo. A total of eight metals were used in the study. The metalE included were : cobalt, copper, indium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, arsenic and cadmium. A total of 800 eggs were used for the study. Salts of each of the metal were dissolved in physiological saline and injected into the air sacs of white Leghorn chick eggs. Dose levels varied with the metal to be tested. Control eggs were injected with an equivalent volume of saline (0.1 ml per egg). The eggs were injected on …

Microcomputer Applications In Construction Layout, P. Emeruwa Anyanwu

Theses

With recent trends in computer technology, its application to the construction industry is attracting more attention. The cost of owning computer was a primary reason for small and medium sized firms not adopting its use. With the advent of micro and minicomputers, the cost have dropped dramatically. Now one can purchase an Apple Computer (the monitor, keyboard, disk drive, and printer) at less than $3,000. This makes it possible for students like me (the poverty class) to afford to own one.

This thesis explores the powerful potentials of the microcomputer and its use as an aid in construction layout. Surveying …